Process of making knitting-machine needles



(No Model.)

L. T. WHITTEN.

PROCESS OF MAKING KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES. I

Patented Aug. 30,1881.

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lil M11101 may N. PETERS, Phnln-Lilhagraphar, Washington. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS T. VVHITTEN, OF LAKE VILLAGE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

PROCESS OF MAKING KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,581, dated August30, 1881.

Application filed July 14, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS T. WHITTEN, of Lake Village, in the county ofBelknap and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and ImprovedProcess of Making Knitting- Machine Needles; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification.

My improvement is applied to the making of latch knitting-needles, theusual mode of forming the latch -slot in which is, first, to punch anoblong flaring cavity or slot in the round wire of which the needle ismade, and then to swage the sides up into parallel positions. Thismethod makes the sides of the slot of uneven thickness, quite thin, andconsequently weak and little durable.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of a piece of flattenedwire from which a needle is formed; Fig. 2, a top view of the same; Fig.3, a cross-section thereof; Fig. 4, a side view of the said piece orblank after the slabbing or first step of the process; Fig. 5, a topview of the blank after the latch-slot is out, being the next step ofthe process; and Fig. 6, a side view of the blank after rolling down thepoint and shank of the same, which constitutes the third step of theprocess.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

Myimproved method or process is substantially as follows: A flat wire isused for the purpose, or the needle-blank is first flattened, and forthis purpose I use a wire larger than the shank or body of the needle tobe made, and equal in depth or greatest diameter to the full depth whichthe finished needle is to have at the sides of the latch-slot, asindicated in Figs. 1 and 2 and in the cross-section, Fig. 3. The blankis then slabbed or out down in the upper edge, as at aand' b, nearthetwo extremities of the part where the needle-slot is to be formed,cutting it at the end, a, ready to form the point or book, and at therear, 1), of the slot part to the proper depth required for the needleat that part, as shown in Fig. 4. The latch-slot is then cut or sawedcentrally down between the flattened sides and longitudinally betweenthe slabbed parts, giving slot sides of uniform thickness from the frontto the back edge of the needle, having sufficient thickness of metalthere, and consequently producing a needle of great strengthanddurability, as shown in Fig. 5. The needle-blank is then rolled down toa proper point at the end, and the shank partcis rolled down to therequired size from the slabbed part b to the end, as shown in Fig. 5,leaving the back side, d, of the needle straight or of the form requiredfor the finished needle from end to end, as shown in Fig. 6. Thisoperation is based on the following principle, which I have discoveredto be effectual: By first cutting into the blank on the upper side only,leaving a diameter equal to the ultimate diameter of theneedle-sl1a1ik,and then rolling down the remainder of the shank to thesame thickness, the back side ofthe blank will remain straight, ornearly so. Thus by a very simple operation I reduce the wire to theproper form, save all the metal except the little cut away in notching,and at the same time improve the needle at the sides of the latch-slot,as herein set forth. It is not essential which is first done, the sawingof the needle-slot or the rolling down of the point and shank.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In the process of forming machine-knitting-needle blanks, thereduction of a wire of larger diameter to the proper size of shank byfirst cutting into it on the upper side to'the desired depth, and thenrolling the whole shank down to the same thickness, thereby keeping theback ofthe needle straight, substantially as and for the purpose hereinspecified.

2. The process of forming machine-knittingneedle blanks, which consistsin first flattening the sides of a wire equal in diameter to the fulldepth required at the latch-slot, cutting the latch -slot therein,notching or slabbing the upper edge only at places just before and backof the latch-slot to the thickness required for the point and shank, andthen rolling down the remainder of the point and shank, thereby keepingthe blank straight at the back, substantially as and for the purposeherein specified.

The foregoing specification signed by me this 4th day of June, 1880.

LEWIS T. WHITTEN.

Witnesses:

J. L. ODELL, E. L. CHENEY.

